Thread: so i was wondering.....

How many of you wish you could go back to stock after realizing how much money and time you've put into your car as far as mods go? To back to the times when you weren't blowin things up, car breaking down, countless transmissions, etc. I LOVE to go fast, and have a better/faster car than the guy next to me at the light. But when you lay it all out and really think about it.....is it worth it?

What brought this up is im still on the fence about if I want to start dumping a bunch of money into a car (my dd btw) to mod it, when ill never even see what I bought it for let alone anything extra for all the mods I've done. Im all about replacing what breaks with something better, but after listening to the majority of the ppl on here talk about stuff constantly breaking when they start modding (I understand its all about how u drive the car and the steps you take to make sure the mod is done correctly.......so please don't plug me with the "safely modding thread" lmao) it makes me wonder if im better off just leaving it alone, and just keeping her slow.

Thought this might be an interesting topic to hear feedback on!?

When you mod, you do take the risk of parts breaking. If you don't like working on your car, you probably shouldn't be modifying it in the first place.

Modding isn't about money, and once you get past that logic, you can go a lot further with your project.

Knowing how to properly tune and adjust the car is the key to not breaking things.




Click the link in my sig for a thread on how to safely mod your 3800.

if you ask me, a dd, just dont buy the biggest cam out there, go mild, do rockers, dont do a huge pulley drop, and enjoy the new power, witch will be better than stock, but with out maxing out the block, ive seen a bunch of friends just go mild, and their cars ran just perfect for years, and yes they beat on them.

I reread this and saw that this is your DD, some of the best advice I can give as far as that goes would be to buy a beater. It doesn't have to be fancy, just something that you can drive if for some reason a project takes a while, or something to drive in the winter so you don't have to worry about some ***hat sliding into your car on ice and totaling what you've put time and effort into.

Which brings me to another point, if you're modding a Grand Prix, make sure one of the first things you do is the transmission. From the factory they aren't made to handle the kind of abuse most of us put them through.

Originally Posted by Explicit_Spade

When you mod, you do take the risk of parts breaking. If you don't like working on your car, you probably shouldn't be modifying it in the first place.

Modding isn't about money, and once you get past that logic, you can go a lot further with your project.

Knowing how to properly tune and adjust the car is the key to not breaking things.




Click the link in my sig for a thread on how to safely mod your 3800.

Thanx for not pointing me to to the safely modding thread like I asked......I see what you did there....lmao

And its not like I don't like working on it, as long as im not taking two steps forward and four steps back....ya know. I understand what all of you are saying, but im simply asking if anybody ever wishes they would've just never started modding at all and just left it stock?

I don't think anyone regrets modding. Noone knows where the road ends, but as long as you have fun along the way, that's all that matters.

My car hasn't run 100% since I started modding it, and now my trans is going out. Do I regret it, not at all. Once its where I want it to be, It'll be a stout car and shouldn't break anything else.

Its a long process to the happy point, but if you hang in there, you eventually get there and the results are worth it.

well me brother had a 72 chevell with a 454, 30 over, with a custom ground circle track cam or some chit, the beefiest parts top to bottom, the parts alone cost 7,000, back in 89, never on a dyno but rated at 650 hp, had a B and M built trans, 3200 stall, semi manual valve body, 411 full posi rear. ran 12.6 in the 1/4 with slicks. over all cost of car, with the loudest stereo in town, it was a 12,000 dollar car.

it was his daily driver, and he loved every minute of it. the motor never gave him one problem over the years. just regular stuff, valves adjusted, tune ups fluid changes, and lots of tires lol

if you cant tell yet my brother got hit by a car while riding a moped, he got 100,000 grand, so it was the best money could buy at the time. and he spent it well. lol

Originally Posted by scottydoggs

he got 100,000 grand

@_@

That's quite a bit of money

It's a helluva lot cheaper platform to mod than most others. If you put enough time into researching and planning ahead, you drastically reduce the risk of major problems that may cause you to harness such feelings. This combined with the patience to sit on some money while looking ahead. Almost any cam swap you should have enough money saved for a trans or at least $1,000 set aside for other possible problems. One of the biggest things is to have a goal in mind and stick with it.

Originally Posted by RegorHtims

@_@

That's quite a bit of money

even back then it wasn't a real big amount, he went through it pretty fast, bought a bunch of cars, 2 el caminos, a 70 and a 72, the chevell and a 72 camaro z with the split bumpers.

sold the camaro for a profit, and sold the red camino made something off it not much. had about 6 or 7 grand tied up in the silver 72 camino, it was running 13's, but he kept getting bigger cam and intake up grades, so when he got the chevell, it was all in, best of the best, no short cuts. no need to upgrade any thing when it was built.

all of his cars were tits too, no dents paint shined and ran like tops.

this is the chevell

after he crashed it, the engine and trans went into this


67 camaro, he lent the engine to his friend who bought this car for 5000 with no engine, its set up for 1/8 mile track, had 456 gears full spool rear end, tubed rear end 33 inch tires, frame connectors, the little bicycle tires up front, full roll cage, fuel cell in the trunk, no wipers not much of an interior, as its a race car lol and we drove it daily on the street, sharp right hand turns were real fun with a spool rear, the inside tire just chirps its ass off while plowing the front end, but in a straight line it was fast, till it ran out of gear. and it pulled the front wheels, what more could you ask for?

anything car related is a terrible hobby you pour money into it and get very little back.

that said its a rewarding hobby also knowing you built something yourself, you beat the guy at the light, you have fun and meet new people.

I don't have much wrapped up in all my mods maybe like $50 or so after parting out my parts car.

Mines a DD too that I NEED to have running. Ive bought ALL my parts used off the forum sticking with the stock pulley. Im not goin ballz out. After the tune Ill be in less than $500 and enough to make people scratch there heads even if the beat me. Keep it basic and youll be good. You can get decent gains with the right tune and stock pulley.

That's my thing, one of my last cars I had about $15,000 wrapped up into it, and in the end I traded it in for $2,000. All I thought about was what I could've had if I saved that money for something else. Lol. I guess nowadays im alot more careful with how I spend my money.

what car you talkin about?,,
needz mor info

ive learned never add up your reciepts

Originally Posted by redlinepontiac

ive learned never add up your reciepts

I agree with this. People ask how much I have into my car and I don't even know.

Originally Posted by redlinepontiac

ive learned never add up your reciepts

Reciepts? What reciepts?